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Sand Tracks: Train Beach Activity Inspired by Peter’s Railway

Sand Tracks: Learning with Trains at the Beach @ Play Trains! This activity combines art, science, and sensory play, demonstrating one of the technical pages between chapters in the first book of the Peter's Railway series. These books are perfect for train-loving children of any age!

Today, I have two things to share with you: a fun beach activity that combines creativity, science, and sensory play, and the inspiration for it, a great series of train books for kids of any age! From what I've seen, it can be difficult to find many books about trains that will appeal to ...

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Summer Fun for Kids: Pool Noodle Train Tracks

Pool Noodle Train Tracks: Summer Train Fun for Kids @ Play Trains! Kids can build these train tracks, then add a sprinkler to cool off in an "engine wash."

The sunshine that keeps breaking through our familiar Seattle clouds has been putting thoughts of summer fun in my head.  At the same time, the lure of playing wooden trains is hard for the Little Engineer to resist. We often take the trains outside and play with them on a picnic mat in the ...

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Waterproof Play Pictures: Flower Train

Waterproof Play Pictures: Flower Train @ Play Trains! How to make photo play pieces for water play and messy play, plus a little parenting wisdom gained along the way.

When I made these laminated train pieces, I wasn't planning to incorporate them in water play. But now that we've happened upon that use for them, I can't wait to make more!  These waterproof play pictures are great for both bath time and all kinds of water or messy play. Next time, though, I'm ...

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Toy Surfboard Craft for Kids

Toy Surfboard Summer Craft for Kids from Play Trains!

This surfboard craft for kids is a great way to bring favorite toys into water play. The Little Engineer had so much fun pretending his toys were really surfing! Plus there's a lot of hands-on science going on, as kids try to get the toys to stand up on their surfboards. It would also be fun to make ...

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More Summer Train Activities →

Building with Mini Light Boxes: Wooden Train Roller Coaster Tracks

Building with Mini Light Boxes: Roller Coaster Tracks for Wooden Trains @ Play Trains!

The first time we used our DIY mini light boxes with wooden train tracks, the Little Engineer immediately saw the stacking potential (which I hadn't noticed yet). He put one light box on top of another and ran off to get our tallest ascending track to send a train rolling down from the top. We ...

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Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag

Train Track Counting Activity and Busy Bag from Play Trains!

Over the past few years, I've had fun thinking up ideas for little activities and busy bags to put in my purse that are tailored to my son's interests. So, as you can imagine, we've played a lot of trains in a lot of different ways at restaurant tables. Here's a simple train track counting activity ...

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Lego Minifigures and Wooden Trains: Tips and Tricks

A simple trick to give Lego minifigs a way to ride wooden trains -- from Play Trains!

This is a great way to combine old favorite toys with awesome new toys as kids grow. While LEGO DUPLO figures are a little big to go with wooden trains, LEGO minifigures are a very compatible size. They fit in the wooden train freight cars -- but, more often than not, they fall out as the trains ...

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More Favorite Train Activities →

The Play Trains! Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets 2021

The Play Trains! Guide to Wooden Train Sets: expert advice on the best wooden train set to buy for your little engineer.

Searching for the best wooden train set for your child? I've turned my expert eye on the wooden train sets that currently on the market so that you can make an informed choice. A train set can sound good on paper, but there's nothing like hands-on play to tell you whether it's going to be the right ...

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Wooden Train Tracks — The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

The Play Trains! Ultimate Wooden Train Guide -- Wooden Train Track: expert advice and product recommendations

If you traveled back in time to my son's toddler days, you would find us on his bedroom floor, surrounded by wooden train tracks. My son: the one clutching at train in his chubby toddler fist as he ran its wheels down the almost-finished track. Me: the one building my masterpiece railway at ...

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Ice Train Play — Winter Fun for Any Season

Ice Train Play @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/ice-train-play/

Ice and snow have been a recurring theme in our train play, no matter the season. First we froze toy trains in ice and found many different ways to play with snow (real or pretend) and trains. This summer, we made a train out of ice and sent it whooshing around our deck. The logical next step was to haul…

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Two Color Oil and Water Discovery Bottles

KID SAFE Two-Color Oil and Water Discovery Bottles @ Play Trains! http://play-trains.com/two-color-oil-and-water-discovery-bottles/ These vibrant discovery bottles contain no lamp oil, using all edible ingredients to make them safe for young children to make themselves!

These vibrant oil and water discovery bottles contain no lamp oil, using all edible ingredients. This makes them a safe science activity for preschoolers to make on their own! We found some fun train-related things to include in our bottle, but you could make them with any (or no) theme in mind. The Little Engineer…

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More Science Activities with Trains →

Jessica Petersen, author of Old Tracks, New Tricks
Hi, I'm Jessica! We're so happy you've climbed aboard the Play Trains! express. Next stop: a trainload of fun and learning for your little engineer!

Our Book!

The Play Trains Ultimate Wooden Train Guide: The Best Wooden Train Tables for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Best Train Tables — The Ultimate Wooden Train Guide

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Copyright © 2012 - 2023 Jessica Petersen, All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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Some product links on this site are affiliate links for products we think are worth checking out. The owner of this website is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Lego Brand Retail Affiliate Program. Read our the rest of our disclosure policy here.
An easy, temporary way to turn any wooden train into a LEGO train. A fun design project for kids from Play Trains!

Design Your Own LEGO Wooden Train

Temporary alternatives to gluing wooden train tracks down to a wooden train table, recommended by Play Trains!

Alternatives to Gluing Wooden Train Tracks to a Train Table

Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen: a wooden train picture book that inspires creative play!

Old Tracks, New Tricks by Jessica Petersen

Our Train Videos on YouTube

About Me

Hi, I'm Jessica! While playing trains for the last several years, my Little Engineer and I have had a lot of fun and learned so much together. I'm excited to share our discoveries with other people who have kids who love trains in their lives.

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Recent Posts

  • Best Train Sets for Toddlers
  • The Play Trains! Guide to the Best Wooden Train Sets 2021
  • The Best Battery-Powered Wooden Trains
  • Wooden Track Veggie Stack: a Wooden Train Activity
  • 55+ Creative Train Gift Ideas for Kids that Will Make You a Hero

Copyright © 2012 - 2018 by Jessica Petersen